Scrimmage No. 5

UTSA’s offense bounced back from an underwhelming performance in last week’s scrimmage, racking up 344 yards and manufacturing five scoring drives, including four touchdowns, in 11 possessions Wednesday at Farris Stadium.

The turnaround was embodied by quarterback Eric Soza, who continued to secure his hold on the starting job with 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It came on the heels of his worst performance of the fall, a 7-for-20 debacle.

“I thought Soza really stepped up and did some nice things,” coach Larry Coker said. “He’s pretty solid, he’s pretty good. He can move the chains. He has nice command, and our team respects him.”

His scoring passes covered 15 yards to Evans Okotcha and 10 to Jake Wanamaker. Part of a receiving corps that continues to impress, the sure-handed Wanamaker had his best performance of the fall with four catches for 61 yards.

“We’re finally learning to spread the ball around, spreading the field,” Wanamaker said. “Everybody’s getting a chance to touch the ball, and I was fortunate enough to make a few plays. The receiving corps is pretty deep. It’s whoever gets the opportunity that week. I felt like I was due. I’ve kept my mouth shut and done the work, and it worked out.”

Marcellus Mack also stood out with three catches for 73 yards, including a 52-yarder on which he found a seam in the secondary but didn’t quite have enough speed to score. Walk-on Brooks Blakemore also impressed with a beautiful one-hand grab for 26 yards.

Hunter Boelhauf rounded out the scoring with a 29-yard field goal.

Defensively, the Roadrunners were hampered by a handful of key absences, including linebackers Cody Rogers, Steven Kurfehs and Caleb Hundley.

“We’re thin as it is, so we really missed them,” Coker said.

The defense still managed to make a handful of plays, including perhaps the best individual effort of the fall — a combination sack, strip and fumble recovery in the end zone by walk-on defensive tackle John Roper. Scholarship defensive tackle Dominique Henderson also made his presence felt with a sack and another tackle for loss, overpowering his blocker to take down Kam Jones on a reverse.

“It was good to see Dominique step up,” coach Larry Coker said. “We haven’t noticed him either, becuase he hasn’t been doing much. But he did some nice things tonight.”

Henderson joked that he was getting jealous of all the big plays being made by walk-on defensive end Marlon Smith, who continued his strong play with four tackles (one for a loss.)

“I told him I was going to take something from him today,” Henderson said. “I wanted to show him this big boy could move a little bit.”

* Coker said the team will take another break next week, allowing his coaches another opportunity to hit the road for recruiting. In the meantime, strength and conditioning coach Charlie Dudley will run the team through a mini combine to test their development. Coker said the Roadrunners will resume practice on Oct. 31, continuing through Thanksgiving before taking a haitus until next spring.